PROMINENT YALE GRADUATES

Every year the senior class at Yale casts ballots to decide who are its most important or particularly well qualified members. By vote such men as the following are picked: Best athlete, the man who has done most for Yale, the man most likely to succeed, etc. The New York Times has recently conducted an inquiry to discover to what extent these predictions have been fulfilled, what professions the most gifted graduates have chosen, and how well they have filled the positions offered them. The times continues a follows:

"For this purpose the records of the prominent graduates of Yale of the classes from 1897 to 1906 have been consulted and the value of the work accomplished by them has been compared with the promise they gave while in college.

"On the whole, the estimate of their classmates has been more than fully justified, and the same points which characterized them in college have continued to remain with them in later life. Where success was predicted under the head of Most Likely to Succeed, the man with this collegiate distinction has kept his world and found success in some branch of life and is generally accepted as a leader in it.

"Among those who were voted to have done the most for Yale, the most versatile, popular, brightest, and the most to be admired, the law and educational pursuits predominate. Especially is this the case of the 'brightest' man, five of whom are actively engaged in preparatory school or collegiate instruction, three in law, and but two in business.

"Business and extensive travel have appealed mostly to the best athletes, among whom are F. T. Murphy '97; J. O. Rogers '98; Alexander B. Marvin '99; Gordon Brown '01; George Ward '62, and Tom Shevlin '06.

"Travel characterizes nearly all of the graduates whom this concerns, for a large majority of them have spent a good many months traveling abroad and some few even going around the world. In the case of those who studied law, extensive travel always succeeded the two or three vigorous years they spent in law school.

"In the case of a large number of the men, the early years of their life after graduation, were spent in turning from one occupation to another to find that for which they were best fitted and then settling down to some steady occupation in which they made rapid progress."

Summary of Professions.

Following is a summary of the professions chosen by the men in each class from 1897 to 1906:

Best Athletes--Business, 2; business and agriculture, 1; banking and brokerage, 2; banking, 1; manufacturing, 2; medicine, 1; law 1.

Done Most for Yale--Business, 2; banking, 1; finance, 1; manufacturing, 1; educational, 1; law, 4.

Most Likely to Succeed--Business, 1; finance, 3; transportation, 2; government, 2; law, 2.

Brightest--Transportation, 1; mer- chandise, 1; author, 1; educational, 4; law, 3.

Most Popular--Finance, 3; manufacturing, 2; transportation, 1; art, 1; agricultural, 1; law, 2.

Most to be Admired--Business, 1; banking, 1; finance, 1; medicine, 1; art, 1; law, 3; divinity, 2.

Most Versatile--Business, 1; banking, 1; manufacturing, 1; transportation, 1; architecture, 1; government, 1; education, 1; law, 3